On Your Own
by readme-silly
Summary: Naruto wanted to know why everyone hated him. Sandaime wouldn't tell him so he took things into his own hands. He now has knowledge in medical jutsu and he's fast rising in the ninja ranks of Konoha.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I'd written this long ago. I just decided to post it for the heck of it. If you like the concept I might just let you adopt it, but until then, enjoy. I'll correct grammar mistakes if you point them out.

Disclaimer: I don't own the concept behind Naruto and its characters. This disclaimer applies to all chapters.

Chapter 1

5-years after the Kyuubi's defeat

Late into the night, a short black-clad figure silently dropped to the floor after sneaking into the Konoha Library through a small unlocked window.

'Jackpot!' was his first thought at successfully infiltrating the library after days of careful planning. The only snag he had hit in his plan was the Sandaime hokage's near god-like ability to know what anyone was doing at any time in the village. He had yet to find out how it was done but had taken a risk by choosing to break into the building at a time he knew the Old man was indisposed.

'If he doesn't know I was here after tonight, I'll make sure to always leave out for him those stupid orange books he likes reading so much so I can keep coming back.' he thought as he moved through the rows of shelves to the section he knew was used by most gennin and chuunin ninja. Naruto was not a complete stranger to the titles of most of the books as he recognised some of the topics from passages in his textbooks from the academy, where he had recently enrolled.

'Alright! First on the list is stuff to do with the body, and after that... I'll come up with something.' He proceeded to sift through the mounds of information he would have access to for the whole night.

Just as he had anticipated, there were a great number of books dealing with human anatomy, not only for ninja use but also for civilians. Our hero pulled out a chair from a table in the room and began meticulously sorting through the books he had grabbed. He copied down the book titles on a piece of paper knowing he would not have time to read through the big, heavy volumes in one sitting.

No, breaking into the library was just one stage of his plan. He needed to get the titles to the books first before he could initiate the second stage of his plan. He drew up a list of the books and scrolls he would need in order of priority, bringing his operation to a close after a tedious near five hours of constant work. He then replaced every book to it's exact location, with the exception of the tome that was first on his list.

A yawn escaped him when he was finally done, indicating just how tiring it was for the five-year-old boy to carry out his plan.

'Operation, success! And I still have a few hours left to catch some sleep.'

Just as he had gotten in, the black-wearing academy student left the library leaving no signs indicating that he was there just a few minutes ago.

Three months later

In a remote part of forested area within Konoha, a blond haired kid cursed.

"Damn it! How the hell am I supposed to aim these stupid things!" came the yell that scared away a few birds perched on the nearby treetops. The object of the boy's cursing and current bane of his life was a set of senbon, medical needles, that he had painstakingly scavenged from used training grounds all over Konoha. He was using the senbon to try and hit specific pressure points on a wooden dummy he had made, according to a few charts and diagrams that were in the most recent scroll he had acquired from the library.

He had taken to the Art of Medical Practices with a fervor unheard of from most people. It was a testament to his intelligence that he was able to comb through half the medical texts on his list(which comprised of forty four assorted books and scrolls) and that he was well on his way to practically apllying what he had learned as well. He was able to name from memory a part of the body and list its characteristics and functions to the minute detail of the sequence of synaptic nerve firing for the groups of cells of the body part. In most circles he would have been named a prodigy for having advanced as fast as he had when he was only five years old.

Naruto had found out that his healing factor was at least eight times higher than that of most people. His senses were also much more keen than those of other people, a fact he was not aware of since he assumed that he was just like everyone else.

'But I'm not like anyone else...' His face drooped as he remembered that he was in some way connected to the beast that nearly destroyed Konoha. Before his thoughts turned darker he turned his attention back to what he was doing before.

'Maybe, if I held them differently...' Naruto's current scroll was on the battle aspect of iryojutsu(medical techniques). He was already conversant with the use of senbon in acupuncture to interrupt and redirect nerve signals to cause numbness, pain or redirect blood flow to cause certain body reactions. He had practiced a bit on a few forest animals and was confident he could do just about everything that was in the books and more. His imaginative mind was constantly coming up with new ideas for the iryojutsu and information he was acquiring. He always made sure to record and archive everything he came up with. Right now he was learning to use senbon to incapacitate the human body and had hit an obstacle namely his throwing posture and the lack of a proper teacher to instruct him. But let it not be said that that was enough to stop Uzumaki Naruto.

A shift in balance here, a slight raise in the elbow... Naruto drew his arm back then thrust it forward, letting the senbon in between his right forefinger and middle finger fly towards the previously aimed spot on his target(which coincidentally resembled a certain instructor from the academy whom he particularly disliked for having sent him out of class after raising his voice to ask a question). The needle struck the target just a few millimetres off the intended target.

"Finally!" Naruto breathed, feeling relieved. He set himself up for another throw and again he nearly hit his target. His pose was a rough and he moved his body too much but now that he was on the right path, he would be able to improve to the point he could do it unconsciously, just as the book had described.

That night Naruto dragged himself to bed after a hearty meal of forest picked fruit(he was trying to save up as much of his money as he could) and sighed contentedly while he mentally reviewed just how far he had come since picking up his first book. He had not slacked off on his academy work either and was already ahead of the instructor in the curriculum they were covering(courtesy of the academy library). So much about him had changed in just three months. His change in diet from the previous back-to-back ramen meals now consisted of a wide variety of meat, fruits and vegetables. He had been most thankful that he had discovered proper nutrition after having read of how growth could be stunted if the body did not get enough nutrients which his previously didn't.

'I could've turned into a midget for all I know if I kept eating nothin' but ramen!' he chuckled at the thought of a chibi Naruto surrounded by his normal sized peers. His peers. This was a sore spot for him. He was three years younger than everyone else in class. They picked on him because he was shorter and younger than them. He suspected that their parents contributed to their isolating him in class despite how much he tried to be friendly to everyone.

'Guess I can't win 'em all.' A loud yawn and Naruto was drifting off to sleep, dreaming of a time and place where he had lots of friends who kept the loneliness away.

7-years after the Kyuubi's defeat

Naruto ducked and rolled out of the way of a couple of senbon that were heading for him. His breathing hastened as he purposefully tripped a wire and proceeded to dodge his way through a hail of shuriken that were flung at him from all sides around him. The moon hung low in the sky, providing little illumination through the thick foliage in the area that Naruto had dubbed his own personal training grounds, where he was presently setting off a number of traps he had earlier set up and was attempting to dodge the volleys of weapons being flung at him in near-zero visibility as part of his training.

The blond boy had stepped up his training to include physical conditioning and battlefield awareness ever since he had completed his reading on The Medical Arts. He had felt he had to take care of his body and pre-condition it to prepare for the life of ninja that he would undoubtedly be a part of, thanks to his relationship with the Kyuubi. He had yet to find out exactly what the nine-tails had to do with him but he felt he was getting close.

As part of his medical training, Naruto had learnt a lot in regards to chakra and the body. he had gained a number of medical techniques that he had trained, bled and sweat to master for two years since he began to search for answers as to why he was so different to others. He had finally tapped into his chakra and was surprised to find it was a great deal, no doubt as a result of his incredible physical fitness. Chakra being made up of physical and mental energy meant that the more one had of either, the more chakra one had. An adult's chakra was more potent than a child's due to their more developed physical structure as well as their more experienced mental ability. Naruto had realised that he could not rush that aspect of getting stronger and all he could do was wait for time to take it's course.

Of course that didn't mean he would let himself be idle. There was tons he could still do, and with his high healing factor and keen senses, he was sometimes scared of the potential he had.

It had taken a lot of work to bring up his chakra control to the levels he needed to be able to utilise the iryojutsu described in his pilfered tomes of knowledge. He had had to work on numerous exercises due to the ridiculously high levels of chakra he had for his age which would be expected from most jounin and not a third-year academy student. Naruto was quick to take advantage of his chakra levels though and at least once a month he would experiment with a new use for chakra(but always researching in the library before utilising the idea to make sure he did not blow himself up).He had modified chakra strings so that he could use them to cut up objects(these he called Kiri no Chakra no Moji Retsu or The Cutting Chakra Strings) and he was also on his way to learning to fire them in short bursts as Chakra Senbon. His training through the evasion of traps was to improve his situational awareness and train his reflexes before he would delve into a suitable taijutsu or kenjutsu style.

Naruto dodged the last kunai and stood still for a moment to calm down his heart rate before starting to pick up the weapons that littered the ground. All of the equipment he had was scavenged from training grounds where he sometimes masqueraded under a henge posing as a cleaner. Some of the lost causes he sold at a local forge in the village and saved the money he got from them. When he was done collecting the weapons, sometimes having had to sniff them out, Naruto stowed them away in a backpack he usually used to carry his school stuff.

'I need more ninja wire...' he noted as he took inventory on what he had used and which kunai needed sharpening. He then gazed up at the stars and took his time appreciating their beauty.

'I wonder if there's more out there, maybe another world or another reality where things work differently. Where there's more to life than training.' Naruto shook his head to clear his mind. 'Another reality? I must be starting to lose it. I think I'll go talk to the Old man tomorrow. He was getting worried about my grades.' At first, Naruto had been excelling at the academy. Some said he could make Rookie of the Year if he kept up his pace. This made people more angry and upset than they had been when he had started attending the academy. It got serious when some kids singled out Naruto and ganged up on him one day because,

'Because their parents were mad at them for letting me get ahead of them.' he thought grimly.

Since then Naruto had taken to under-achieving to the point where his past success was called a fluke. No one had confronted him since then but he had taken on a new title of The Idiot when he purposefully messed up his jutsu in class.

'Bah, who needs 'em! Old man, Teuchi ji-san and Ayame are my friends and that's enough for me. It's too bad I can't tell them about the stuff I've been doing. Feh, it's better if I stay out of their lives, I mean, Ichiraku's has been doing much better now that I stopped eating there during the day.'

Naruto sighed and steered his thoughts in a different direction, namely, a new book he had found.

'I wonder what Fuinjutsu is like...'

8-years after the Kyuubi's defeat

Sandaime pinched the bridge of his nose in defeat as a headache threatened to start. The source of his misfortune stood next him in the form of one Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto had just told him that the reason he continued to do poorly in class was because he 'didn't feel like trying'. Sarutobi Hiruzen worked with politicians daily and had done so for many years. As such, he could tell that the boy with whom he was standing atop the Hokage Monument watching the sunset was not lying. This actually made sense to him.

According to the reports from the academy, Naruto was supposed to be a disgrace to ninja everywhere. He had just barely avoided flunking nearly every subject introduced to him. Yet, the Naruto that he saw when he looked at the boy, who was currently entranced by the majestic sunset infront of him, he could tell he was more than he appeared to be. As a veteran of three great wars, Hiruzen had become accustomed to reading people and assessing them from their appearance, a skill which had saved his life more than once when he was fighting an enemy who's skill level was unknown. It was also useful to him as the hokage as he was able to tell if his subordinates were slacking off.

When this incredible skill was applied to Naruto, he was surprised as to what he found considering what he learned from the reports.

Naruto carried himself with a confidence and grace which was not found in most gennin until they were ready to become chuunin. His posture was good though not completely excellent, his hand-grip on objects was that of one who was accustomed to working with precise and deadly weapons, even the way he stood suggested that he was capable of easily and quickly shifting into a solid fighting stance. The boy's chakra capacity would have been the envy of most chuunin and even a few jounin, yet, it flowed smoothly around him indicating the great level of control he had over it. Hiruzen would not be surprised if Naruto could perform a basic iryojutsu near perfectly on the first try(if only he knew!). Even his eyes were observant and calculating. Sandaime could have sworn that when his bones cracked out of old age the other day as he was sitting down, Naruto's eyes were studying him as if in his mind he was reviewing the causes of arthritis and it's counters, although that would be absurd and utterly unbelievable!

Despite all the secrecy surrounding Naruto, he never once lied to his grandfather figure. Hiruzen knew it was true because when he visited the academy to talk to the students, it seemed as if Naruto didn't want to try in class. The hokage reviewed his options,

'I can ask him exactly what he's been doing, and if he lies I can force him to tell me, but that wouldn't be right and would only drive him further away from me. He has to come out and tell me himself... Why don't you trust me anymore, my boy?' He really cared for the boy and wanted to help him realize what goals he had considering that they were honorable but that was really hard to do when the said boy refused to let him into his life.

Naruto remained oblivious to the Sandaime's worries as he stared at the sun which was slowly dipping beyond the horizon. His form was slouched slightly and if one would look carefully they would see in his eyes the signs of the little sleep he had the previous night. He was still contemplating the staggering conclusion he had reached to the question he often asked himself of his relationship with the Kyuubi. He had thought he was ready for anything that could be thrown at him but he was wrong. He had just reached a level of proficiency in fuinjutsu where he could identify the basic functions of most seals.

Fuinjutsu reading material was nearly impossible to come by in Konoha. He had spent months scouring the library(he did find some cool basic ninjutsu that he had copied down and would soon be able to use and modify into more powerful techniques) but he had to search high and low in his previously unlimited knowledge source at the library and piece together what snippets he could find on the subject before he could progress anymore in figuring out Fuinjutsu itself. He had even had to resort to eavesdropping on gossip like he used to to acquire more detail on the subject. From what he had gathered, fuinjutsu was a skill reserved for jounin and a few exceptional chuunin due to the high risk in its practice, not even considering the intelligence needed to work with the little squiggles. Naruto had already seen the seal on his stomach and this kept him from being deterred in his goal as he knew that sealwork held the answer to his yet unanswered question.

Desperate to overcome the handicap, Naruto had started skipping school a few months back making sure that there would be no suspicion should he fail to attend for a period of up to a week. Once he was sure he would not be missed, he began to sneak out of the village to the nearest towns and establishments to search for more material on the Sealing Arts. He knew he was taking a great risk and should he be caught, the consequences would be grave. As if something like that could stop him.

Naruto had been able to find research material(somewhere, a certain perverted sage feels an overwhelming desire to cheer out loud) once he knew exactly what kind of places to look for it. Along the way, he had run into hostiles; roadside bandits and the like, and he was at least able to view the results of all his training. His sacrifices bore fruit in the form of an aged scroll that was used to instruct fuinjutsu. He only had a few weeks to work with it so far but for him it was enough.

The night before his meeting with Sandaime atop the Hokage Monument he had scrutinized his seal and realized that it was a very powerful containment seal. Things started to click into place. 'Yondaime was a seal expert.' he had actually forgotten that little detail from all the material that he had read. Now he knew what everyone else(the adults anyway) did. This was where his healing factor and enhanced senses came from. What else did the Kyuubi do to him? Was he even human anymore?

The questions kept coming all night and he barely got any sleep. Here he was now, standing next to the Sandaime watching the sunset together. He hadn't even noticed it had become dark. He turned to look at Sandaime who was now getting ready to leave. He couldn't help but wonder, 'Does he know what I am?'

Just before Hiruzen left Naruto he sought to reassure his surrogate grandson in hopes that later on, he would open up to him.

"Naruto," Eyes, blue like the ocean, regarded him as he took a breath to continue. "I want you to know that I care about you, and if you ever need to talk to me about anything, I'll be there for you, just like I always have." That said, the old man used the Shunshin no jutsu(body flicker technique) to leave, most likely to return to his office or go to his home.

When he was gone, Naruto came to the realization that the Sandaime was there for him from the beginning, regardless of the Kyuubi being sealed inside him. If there was one thing Naruto was sure of, it's that he was grateful for what he had, but now he could see that his hiding of things from the old man was destroying their trust.

'But he didn't trust me enough to tell me about the Kyuubi...' Naruto instantly berated himself for that thought. 'Of course he couldn't tell me! I never gave him reason to think I was ready to know. Even now, I'm still having trouble coming to terms with it.'

'First thing tomorrow, I'll tell him everything.'

Naruto decided it was about time he headed back to his apartment. He decided to take a shortcut through the Uchiha District. His decision would set in motion events that would later change his life.

AN: I'm back, Bwahhahahaha. Review or feel my wrath! Sorry, I can be quite bipolar sometimes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Naruto came to an abrupt stop as his collar was forcefully jerked backwards. Before he could fully comprehend what was happening, he was thrown backwards and into a wall with such force that his body left its indentation behind when he slid off of it. As he gathered his wits, he realized that his shunshin had been interrupted.

'What the hell! No one should be able to do that!'

He quickly slid into his battle stance upon seeing the man before him who was clad in a black cload adorned with embroidered red clouds. Where his face should have been it was covered with a orange mask with a swirl design. Naruto steeled himself in preparation for a fight though he could tell from the killing intent the man emitted that he was completely out of his league. Naruto uttered a single word.

"Crap."

"Interesting. This is the new Kyuubi no Jinchuuriki." Naruto swore that this guy's voice just near froze the place.

'Oh shit!' Naruto had just seen the bodies. Corpses littered the streets of the Uchiha District as far as the eye could see. Naruto picked up on a woman's muffled scream in the distance. Years later, Naruto would still wonder what compelled him to do what he did that night.

With a reckless abandon, Naruto charged the man who just stood there watching him with what seemed like amusement until Naruto caught him off-guard with his speed. He made to punch the boy who was speeding towards him but he was unpleasantly shocked when his arm passed right through Naruto's figure, as if striking an after-image.

"Bunshin..." the man breathed out upon realization of the trick. "But how, I should have seen through it immediately."

As the creepy guy was mulling over what had happened, Naruto was initiating a shunshin to where the woman who screamed was. He was currently thanking Kami that he had created the Kawarimi Bunshin(Replacement Clone) which was different from the normal illusionary clone in that it could be used to do a kawarimi which was impossible with a normal bunshin.

Naruto pulled out of his shunshin just in time to parry a sword strike at a woman who was kneeling on the ground beside a dead man who he presumed was her husband.

When Itachi had moved to stab Uchiha Mikoto, she had thought that it was over for her. To her great surprise, Itachi's sword strike met another blade with a loud metallic scrape that rang out into the empty night. She dared to open her eyes and was able to take in the appearance of her saviour, who she met with even more surprise.

"Uzumaki..."Itachi regarded the youth before him, wearing a dark blue vest over a white short sleeved shirt and clad in blue shorts with standard blue ninja sandals. To say he was shocked would be like saying Old man Sarutobi slightly liked his porn. Never would he have thought that the Kyuubi container before him would have the skill to stay his sword, which he did using a slightly thin, two foot long blade that he pulled from a sheath hidden on his back under the jacket.

"Uchiha Itachi..." Was Naruto's reply. He found it hard to believe the Uchiha genius could be capable of taking part in the mass carnage that had been wrought in the once great clan. As was the smart move when fighting the wielders of the Sharingan(the Copy Wheel Eye), Naruto focused his gaze to just below Itachi's eyes to avoid being pulled into his ocular genjutsu.

A quick flurry of movement and Naruto's free hand was using a reinforced senbon to hold off Itachi's kunai. Jumping back, Itachi started a brief exchange with him. Naruto was just able to keep up with Itachi's speed though he couldn't tell whether Itachi was holding back or not. Naruto once again pushed off Itachi with his blade as they started to trade even more sword strikes.

This was the scene Sasuke opened the door to. His mother crying over his father's dead body and a strange blond boy fighting his brother with impeccable skill. Naruto chose that moment to use Kawarimi Bunshin to get through Itachi's guard and land a palm strike to the older boy's chest. Itachi was thrown back by the force of the hit which also knocked out his breath. Just before Naruto could follow up, he was forced to block a powerful kick to his side that came from the guy he had just escaped. Due to his smaller and lighter body, the kick put Naruto through a wall and out of the building where his assailant was waiting for him.

Itachi stood up with a groan. He had not expected the kid to keep up with him, let alone land a hit on him. Now though, his master, Uchiha Madara, would take care of him while he finished his mission. He grasped his sword tighter as he turned to face his shellshocked brother. Before he could take a step closer to him, Mikoto, whom he had briefly forgotten, dashed forward to shield Sasuke with her body.

"Stay away from him you monster!"

Sasuke was now thoroughly confused. Wasn't his aniki fighting the guy who murdered all their clansmen? Before he could ponder any further, Itachi stepped closer towards them.

"You just got spared yet you're going to let yourself die with him, Mother?" His voice was... emotionless. Just like his face. Oh, how Mikoto hated seeing that face. She spat back,

"You ceased to be my son when you chose to betray your family!"

Itachi didn't reply but moved around her to look into Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke looked into his brother's emotionless blood-red Sharingan eyes and he felt the urge to speak.

"Aniki... every...everyone..."

"I know." He wasn't even fazed by his declaration.

"How?"

"I killed them."

Time seemed to stop for Sasuke. Something was seriously wrong here. His brother had just admitted to killing his clansmen. This didn't make any sense! Wasn't he on their side?

"N...No! That can't be true! Then...then who was..."

"He stopped me from killing mother."

This was too much for Sasuke to take in. With a small gasp he tore himself from his mother's side and ran out into the night. Had he looked back, he would have seen the tears on Itachi's face as he proceeded to knock out Mikoto who had, in vain, tried to stop him following Sasuke.

Naruto had been caught offguard by the cloaked man's strike. He was not prepared to do more than take the hit with minimal damage as he was pushed past the debris from the wall into the compound outside Uchiha Mikoto's home. He manouvered his body to roll on the ground then he sprang back up with a senbon in hand, ready to reenter the fight, only to be forced to his knees by a concentrated blast of killing intent that dwarfed in comparison all the previous ones he had ever felt.

"Kyuubi no jinchuuriki..."

"Who the hell are you?" he managed to sputter out. It took all of his resolve to keep breathing and not faint in the presence of the intense pressure weighing down on him. It didn't help that his arm felt like it was broken along its length. It most probably was.

The man before him gave a dark chuckle before replying,

"My name is Uchiha Madara."

THE Uchiha Madara? That can't be right.

"Uchiha Madara is dead."

Another dark chuckle that continued to escalate.

"Is that what they teach you these days? No matter, Itachi should be finishing up just about now. I will see you again soon. Say hello to my pet for me. Tell him that I'm coming for him."

And with that, the man faded out of existence like the ghost he was supposed to be. The pressure weighing down Naruto was lifted just in time for him to sense ANBU closing in on the Uchiha Compound. He was smart enough to know the implications should he be found at the centre of a massacre with blood from the corpses all over him. He hurriedly masked his chakra signature before dashing toward the nearest village exit. Once he had safely evaded the chuunin patrols along the village walls, he headed to where he knew was a nearby stream. There he proceeded to clean himself and his clothes thoroughly to throw off the ANBU trackers who were undoubtedly hot on his trail. That done, he returned to his apartment as stealthily as he could where he immediately tore off his clothes and dropped onto his bed, content to just lie there and wait to wake up from what he thought to be a really bad dream.

'This can't be happening! Madara alive, Itachi killing his family, this is madness! And if that lady is still alive...'

He sat up eyes wide in realization.

'If she's still alive, then she'll tell everyone I was there! Even that kid who walked in on us'

Naruto was far from naive and stupid. He knew that even with evidence proving that he did not take part in the slaughter of the Uchiha clan, the prejudice of the people would not let him go unscathed. Right now there was too much against him. Even if the Sandaime sided with him, there was still the issue of his acquired strength. He did not think it past the people to make claims that he was being influenced by the fox sealed in his belly. Worst of all, there was no way he could alert the Sandaime on his findings of who was responsible for taking part in the killings. No one would believe him if he said that the Uchiha patriarch was up and walking. Even he didn't believe himself. No, giving himself up would be setting himself for hours on end of torture and interrogation, not to mention that he would be stripped of his freedom and he would be locked away. most likely for the rest of his unnatural life.

'I'm sorry Old man'

Tomorrow, he would see if the woman and the kid were still alive. He would then find a way to make them forget that he was ever there.

Sasuke hated himself for being weak. He had shown weakness and his actions spoke of cowardice. Where was he when his clansmen needed him? How could he run away when his mother needed him. Even now, he lay in a hospital bed, too tired to move himself enough to get up. But another, more rational part of his mind reminded him that he was still a first year academy student, he was still eight years old dammit! There was nothing he could have done other than get in the way and be killed.

After he had run away and left his mother behind(he cringed in rememberance) Itachi had tracked him down and used some kind of genjutsu on him that made him live through the slaughtering of his family and relatives and the near death of his mother(for some reason he couldn't remember how she lived but he thought that she had to have fought back). He was forced to watch the heartless killing over and over again for what his aniki told him was seventy two hours.

Three days. His innocence was forever shattered. He had seen death and felt it. He was found by ANBU along with his mother who he was told was still among the living and with minimal injury, namely a bad bruise on the head. He had still been unconscious from the effects of the genjutsu when he was taken to hospital. It took him five days to wake up and now he was told by the medics that it would be around a week before he could move around normally. He remembered the words spoken to him by Itachi before he blacked out.

"Hate me, run and cling to life. Grow stronger and when you have the same eyes as me, we shall fight. Only then will you be a test for my strength."

Strength. That was why he did it. Itachi had killed his best friend to gain the Mangekyou Sharingan. He had killed his clan to test the strength it gave him.

'I too will gain strength, brother. And when I have it, I will make you pay for taking away all I hold dear.' Sasuke's thoughts turned towards a dark path as he drifted off to sleep.

Naruto paused in his training to take a slight breather before he would continue. His kenjutsu would still need a lot of refining before he could call it acceptable in his eyes. The only reason he had kept up with Itachi while fighting was because the older boy himself was not trained completely in the Art of the Sword. If he had been up against a specialist he would have been cut to ribbons before he could get his first hit in. But then again, it wasn't as if he only relied on kenjutsu in a fight.

He had a wide arsenal of basic ninjutsu that he could fall back on and though his taijutsu would be considered below average to what most veteran chuunin were capable of, he was no slouch in that department either. His marksmanship was good enough to earn him a jounin rank if he so wished to pursue it. His medical knowledge(he practised a lot of the time when he was outside the village) was superior to that of most medics in the village. Looking back, even he had to admit he had grown considerably. He could now afford to specialize his training a bit as all that was needed was to sharpen his skills over time. He had already decided to fail his academy graduation exam, which was in a week's time, to keep himself off of active duty in Konoha's ranks for a while. Naruto steered his thoughts towards present events as he sat down on the grass in his training area while leaning his back on a tree trunk.

He had gone to see the lady he saved, who he learned was Uchiha Mikoto, the wife of the last clan head, Uchiha Fugaku. Her son was the kid who had seen him fight.

FLASHBACK

Naruto cautiously opened the window of the hospital room, all the while keeping an eye out for ANBU and chuunin on patrol. He slipped into the room silently, his silhouette barely visible against the light from the semi-full moon that was filtering through the window. The sole other occupant of the room was not yet aware of his presence, he noted with a swell of pride at his mastery of stealth. He decided it was safe to alert her of his presence once he made sure that they would not be compromised in any way.

Mikoto nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice calling out from a dark corner of her hospital room. She was clad in a sanitary blue hospital gown and had been sitting up in bed thinking about nothing in particular when she was alerted to a new presence in the room.

"Mikoto-san..."

For a moment, she was reminded of that night when her son ('Former son' she reminded herself) came out of the shadows to deal death to her husband and very nearly herself.

The bearer of the voice stepped out into the meager moonlight and allowed her to view him. He was young. Probably around Sasuke's age though he was a bit taller than her son. His cute boyish face was marked with three horizontal lines on each cheek. Bright blue eyes which seemingly lit up the room looked out at her and his head was topped of with long, spiky, bright yellow hair which stood out so much she began to wonder how he was even able to hide in the room in the first place. The rest of his body was covered in a well fitting though obviously hand-made black long sleeved shirt and long black trousers that ended wrapped in blue bandages above the classic blue shinobi sandals. She instantly knew that the new arrival was the same person who had saved her that night because he carried himself the same way, confident in his skills yet humble in the knowledge that he was not the best there was. She was snapped out of her thoughts when he spoke again.

"Mikoto-san..." he seemed to hesitate, she noted with a bit of amusement(for all their strength men still get uncomfortable for the stupidest reasons) before he continued.

"How are you feeling?"

She had to admit, the Kyuubi boy was not what she was expecting given the stories that were said around the village. Those that circulated the rumors had obviously never met the boy. She found it hard to imagine this warm young soul to be the embodiment of evil he was so often made out to be.

Mikoto took in a breath before answering,

"I'm still a little sore around the head, but the medics say I could be discharged tomorrow."

Naruto nodded in understanding before he moved closer to her. She flinched when he stretched out his hand and held it to the side of her head but she relaxed when she felt warmth and saw the telltale green glow of iryojutsu. Her soreness and teh slight headache that had been building were gone in seconds. Naruto stepped back to admire his handiwork.

"Is that better?"

She nodded slowly, relieved that he was not there to hurt her. Of course she still had a lot of questions for him should he be in a position to answer her. Well, better to ask now when she had the chance.

"Why did you save me?" she blurted out in her haste to catch him in case he decided to disappear.

"I dunno, you were in danger, I didn't really need a reason."

She was confused by his answer, moreso when his eyes and voice practically screamed sincerity with a hint of childish honesty. In the clan, people needed a reason to initiate an action. You did not get something for nothing. It was take and give and it was what she was groomed to know when she married into the Uchiha many years ago.

"Hey, can do something for me...please?"

Of course, there was no one that chivalrous. Here he was, already making requests and calling in favors. She had been stupid to think he had really helped her for nothing. He was probably going to ask her to tell everyone that he was the one who saved her life to help spread his name in good favor.

"What?"

"Don't tell anyone what I did."

If it wasn't beneath her to do so age-wise, Mikoto would have face-faulted. He was asking her the exact opposite of what she expected!

Eyes wide, she voiced her confusion out loud.

"Why not? You'd be a hero! You'd probably be given some kind of award for what you did..."

Naruto cut her off with a sigh that to her was just so wrong on a face like his.

"You know who I am right? Do you really think that's what would happen?"

It dawned on her just what his fears were and she realized just how ridiculous her claims sounded when applied to him. With his reputation, they would try to dig up evidence that he was involved in the massacre especially when there was none to prove that he wasn't. Even if he was not found guilty, his obvious skills would be brought into question and, as far as she knew, he was supposed to be one of the really untalented ones at the Ninja Academy. She herself, having met him could attest firmly that the boy in question was in no way under the influence of the Kyuubi, but there were so many who had lost so much more in the face of the attack eight years ago, they would want to see someone, anyone brought to justice for their losses and sacrifices. She looked sadly at the blond kid before her who had his work cut out for him. Nothing short of saving the village from total annihilation would cleanse him of his scapegoat status.

"I see." What more could she say? She didn't know what else she could say that would ease his burden at that moment.

"If you really don't want me too, I'll keep quiet about it. I also won't say anything about your abilities. I'm in your debt Uzumaki-san. If you ever need anything or even someone just to talk to, I'll be there."

Naruto felt as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. This was more than he had expected(he tried to hide the sting when he heard the same words that had been said to him by Sandaime). He got a good feeling from having someone else he knew was supportive of him.

"Thanks, that really means a lot to me. I'm glad you're okay and I hope Sasuke gets better soon. I'll see you around."

Just as he had come, he vanished into the shadows, right before a nurse opened the door to Mikoto's room to check up on her. She instantly started fussing over the woman who was left staring into the dark corner of her room.

"Uchiha-san, you really need to rest if you want to be ready to leave the hospital tomorrow."

"I'll be fine," she reassured the nurse. "I just needed to think about some things."

END FLASHBACK

'I think that's enough mulling for today. Now, I suppose I can try weight training while working on my fuinjutsu.' Naruto got up and sheathed his sword after making a mental note to buy a set of adjustable weights the next time he was out of the village.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

Sandaime lit his pipe with a small tinderbox as he regarded the boy infront of him. It was just a few days before Naruto's graduation exam and the old hokage wanted to make sure Naruto had his priorities in order before he took his exam. They were currently sitting in his office, the Sandaime behind his desk and Naruto on one of the guest chairs infront of him. Hiruzen steeled himself for the conversation they were about to have.

"Naruto,"

"Yeah, old man?"

THAT put a smile on the said old man's face. Naruto still regarded him as someone he was close to.

"You're about to do the graduation exam."

"Mmhm"

"I'm hoping that you'll pass."

"Thanks, I'll try."

"That's what I'm worried about, Naruto. You say you'll try because you know that you can try and fail."

Naruto did not show any surprise at knowing the Sandaime had figured him out. 'I knew it would happen sooner or later.'

"Look, I trust that you know what you're doing, but are you sure you've explored all your options?"

This caught Naruto's attention.

"I know, Naruto. I know."

The boy just raised an eyebrow to ask the Sandaime to elaborate. Hiruzen sighed before continuing.

"I know that you've been breaking into the library for years now."

Naruto was still unfazed. He had expected nothing less of the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, The god of Shinobi, The great professor. With that kind of resume, he knew the old man would probably already know everything about what he had been doing.

"I know that you're strong for your age though I don't know to what extent. You've been sneaking out of the village from time to time."

Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe and thought 'This is it.'

"And I know that you were at the Uchiha compound the night of the massacre."

Now that was unexpected. Naruto knew he should have known better than to try and play the hokage for a fool.

"It's not what it seems like, old man. I was taking a shortcut home..."

He was silenced when Hiruzen raised his hand

"I'm not insinuating anything, Naruto. I've already told you, I trust you. Anyway, what I'm trying to tell you is that you're not on your own here. You have people who support you, though they don't come out and say it publicly. You don't need to keep your life a secret from the people who care about you. That is a dark and lonely path that you do not wish to take."

Sandaime finished his short advisory speech and let Naruto stew over his words for a few minutes while he smoked his pipe. Once Naruto was sure he had thought over Sandaime's words enough he let him know.

"Old man, it's not that I don't trust you."

It was Hiruzen's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"I just don't trust them!"

"Who, Naruto?"

"The ones who hate me. The ones who can't get over their losses. I don't know how I can get them to see me for me without having people I care about like you getting caught in the crossfire!"

Sandaime was taken aback by the passion in that declaration.

"Did you know that when I stopped eating at Ichiraku's during the day, he started getting more customers? Before, they used to live on the very ramen they served. Now, Ayame-chan can go to school everyday and Teuchi-jisan can afford to take a vacation and pay his medical bills! That's how serious it is."

The Sandaime now understood that Naruto wasn't trying to grow apart from them. In his own way he was protecting them from his problems. He sighed inwardly. This wasn't how he wanted his surrogate grandson to live his life, fearing everyday for the state of his loved ones and friends. But he was already forming a compromise in his mind for the young boy.

"Naruto, it warms my heart that you care for us so, it really does..." He paused for the words to take effect.

"However, I think I know a better way you can keep us safe AND get people to see you for who you are."

"How?" It hadn't crossed Naruto's mind yet that there was a different way he could do things.

"First, I need to know how strong you are and what skills you possess."

He didn't know where the hokage was going with this but he decided to play along. He was planning on telling him anyway.

"Well, I know a bunch of iryojutsu. I think I'm okay at it."

Sandaime was doubtful that Naruto was telling him everything.

"You think you're okay at it?"

Naruto caved in.

"OKAY, I'm pretty good at it."

This satisfied Hiruzen.

"I know a few basic ninjutsu, used mostly on field missions, from every chakra elemental nature. I've modified some of them like the Katon(Fire Release), Raiton(Lighning Release) and Doton(Earth release) to be more combat oriented."

Sandaime nodded in acknowledgment while puffing on his pipe. Inwardly, he was very impressed with Naruto's abilities so far, provided of course that he had achieved near mastery of what he knew. There was no point in congratulating anyone for learning half baked techniques.

He was about to voice his thoughts but Naruto wasn't done yet.

Hiruzen's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when Naruto stood up and unsheathed a near two foot long sword from a scabbard hidden upside down, tilted diagonally under the back of his jacket and proceed to lay it on his desk before continuing.

"I'm not that good with it yet but I can use it without cutting myself in the process."

The old man eyed the blade and noted it wasn't anything spectacular. Naruto had taken good care of the blade itself. It wasn't too worn out but could use a bit more oiling. The hilt had no handguard and was made of plain black wood.

"Yeah, it's not much but I got it from the first man I fought outside the village. He wanted my wallet and tried to kill me when I refused to give it to him."

Sandaime licked his lips before asking a question whose answer he was dreading.

"Did you kill him?"

Naruto only smiled slightly.

"Nah, the poor guy just wanted money to take his daughter to hospital. I talked it over with him and I was able treat her in a couple of days. He wanted to pay me but when I refused he insisted I take his sword to remember him by."

The Sandaime let out a breath he was holding. That is, until Naruto muttered his next words.

"I've had to kill a few times though..."

Before the mood could drop further, Naruto reassured the Sandaime that he was still sane.

"I've already come to terms with it, old man." He got a far-away look in his eyes as he spoke.

"Sometimes some people have to die so that they stop hurting others. I don't like it, actually I hate having done it, but if I didn't they might have hurt or killed more people. I know I had to, but that doesn't make it right."

Hiruzen understood what Naruto was feeling. Most times healers and medics were more inclined to preserve life rather than revel in battle like some of the front-line assault shinobi. Naruto's heart and spirit were still untainted though for how long he wouldn't be able to tell.

"Let's move on then. Were you done assessing yourself?"

Naruto's mood shifted so fast Sandaime nearly thought he was bipolar, that is until he recognized the mask he used to bury it all inside him.

"Oh, yeah! I can use shuriken, kunai and senbon really good."

Hiruzen wished to test Naruto's skill with senbon once he heard that the boy used it as a weapon.

"Do you think you can show me right now? The senbon that is..."

"Yeah, sure."

Naruto drew a single needle that was concealed somewhere on his person and turned in question to Sandaime to know where he was to aim. Hiruzen indicated a list of The Shinobi Rules pinned to the wall on the other said of the room.

"Hit the middle of the 'O' on the title of that list please."

Without hesitation, Naruto let the needle fly from his extended hand faster than most eyes could see to bury itself directly into the centre of the 'O' and the wall behind the paper.

"Took me weeks to get it to move straight." The boy smirked with a hint of pride at his show of skill.

Sandaime chuckled. 'He wasn't lying, he really is good with them.'

"Is there anything else?"

Here the old man thought he was prepared to hear anything, except...

"Yes, I know some fuinjutsu."

His shoulders drooped. 'Could he have found out?' He wanted nothing more than to ask the blond before him but that would lead to him revealing that he was indeed hiding something.

Naruto noticed the old man's discomfort and opted to get the proverbial elephant in the room out of their way.

"Yes, I know about the Kyuubi, and no, I don't blame anyone. What's done is done, I just have to make the best of it."

Sandaime's spirits were lifted at that, but he still had to know...

"No, I haven't tried to contact it yet. You wouldn't even know it was there."

"That's good. You have to know that it's not human. It thinks differently from us and would try to escape at the first chance it got."

"I know. I've read the stories. Also, I'm not mad at you for not telling me. You would have let me know when I was ready. Right...?"

If he was anyone else, Sandaime would have been sweating bullets from the look Naruto was giving him. As it was, the hardened war veteran gave his sincere answer.

"Yes I would have. It's good to hear that you understand."

Desperate to change the topic, Hiruzen continued.

"Now, if that was all,"

Naruto nodded to let him know it was.

"What I was proposing to you is that you become a ninja of Konoha..."

"I don't follow."

"Then let me finish."

Sandaime smiled. For all his growth, Naruto still had the fiery impatience of youth. It was a good sign.

"It's not commonplace, but if I wish to recruit someone to our ninja ranks and I believe they are good enough to not hinder the rest of us, I can give the person in question a temporary chuunin rank and from then on they will be field-tested for them to earn a permanent chuunin rank and of course this is after a psychiatric evaluation and test of combat abilities. Are you with me so far?"

Naruto pulled a face that made him look really boyish as he thought over this.

"I think I know what you're getting at."

Sandaime didn't give him a chance to elaborate as he then continued.

"Most of the people you need to earn trust from are the seniors in the shinobi lines and a great number of civilians. If you were a gennin this would be next to impossible as you would be subject to the ranking system and they would push you around, so to speak."

Naruto nodded as the hokage's plan began to unravel itself.

"So, if I was able to play with the big boys, they would have no choice but to get to know me and then word would spread and I wouldn't have to put up with people's crap anymore! Old man, you're a genius!"

Hiruzen frowned a bit at the language Naruto used but was largely pleased with the boy's show of intellect. Given a few years, Naruto would make to be a very powerful shinobi.

'Just like his father.' he thought.

Naruto snatched his sword from the hokage's desk and sheathed it before turning to Sandaime with an ear to ear grin on his face.

"So, how and when do I start, hokage-jisan?"

'Yes, just like his father.' he thought dryly before he gave Naruto the details the process required.

Naruto was on cloud nine by the time he got home to his apartment which had been given to him by Sandaime a few years back when the orphanage refused to put up with him anymore. The hokage had just informed him that he would be pulled from the academy so that he would not have to take the graduation exam. Instead, he would be given a month to prepare for his combat test and during that time while the old man finalized the paperwork for his instatement into the village ranks he would be given his psychiatric evaluation test as well as another test to see how well he can plan ahead of missions and his reactions to certain situations. All in all, he was confident in his skills and that he would perform.

Things were looking up, even though he had been forbidden from leaving the village again without the proper authorization. Good thing he had already bought his chakra training weights beforehand or he wouldn't have been able to do any heavy lifting for his body while he was training. He had already made up a plan to polish all his skills and everytime he was not working or sleeping he would devote his time to his study of fuinjutsu.

Yes, all was right in the world.

Kakashi was not sure what to expect when he was given an assignment by the Sandaime hokage of Konoha to evaluate the combat prowess of a possible new recruit to the ninja ranks of the village hidden in the leaves. He was familiar with the process used to instate new shinobi, mostly wandering ninja, and he knew that a full mental testing of the ninja in question had already been conducted. To have passed the Konoha Psychiatric Evaluation Examination was already a feat in itself given the strict requirements the village had that ensured that undercover agents did not pose as Konoha ninja. Even the slightest hint of suspicion would lead to one being incarcerated for years before being booted out of the country. This was the very reason why most wandering ninja prefered to steer clear of Konoha and sometimes Fire Country in general. Only missing ninja dared to reside in Fire Country because they had no need for settling down.

The system made for good business since Konoha ninja were the ones usually called to get rid of the missing nin. Indeed, it was news if a wandering nin was about to undergo the final analysis for instatement. Kakashi was sure he would have been alerted to a foreign presence in the village, him being one of the higher-ups in the village.

Imagine his surprise when, on the day of his appointment with the hokage, he found himself in an open field on one of the training grounds in the village facing off with a little kid, no more than nine-years old!

Kakashi eyed the(in his eyes) snot-nosed brat who was looking around idly as if wondering how to pass his time as he was waiting. He had already looked for signs of genjutsu, even going so far as to uncover his lone sharingan eye but everything he did revealed no sign of trickery. He, the Copy Ninja himself, Sharingan no Kakashi, had been called to fight a(again in his eyes) diaper-wearing gaki, and as if that wasn't enough, it was the Kyuubi container, Uzumaki Naruto. The one who served as a constant reminder to him of the beloved sensei he had lost the day of the Kyuubi attack. He shifted his gaze to the Sandaime who stood near him waiting somewhat expectantly for him to make known he was ready to fight.

'Perhaps the old man has finally gone senile? After all, they were telling me just the other day that we need a new hokage and I was to be picked next for the job... Or maybe this is some kind of test they're giving me. Alright Kakashi! Let's look underneath the underneath here. Now what do I see... The Kyuubi's taken control of Sandaime! No, no... Come on! There has to be some kind of trick here!'

Poor Kakashi's brain was going into overdrive, coming up with stranger and sometimes downright sick scenarios in his attempt to find the right 'underneath' he was supposed to be looking for.

The Sandaime could see Kakashi almost exploding and to tell the truth, it nearly made him break out in a fit of laughter to see the great former ANBU captain lose his cool like he was doing. What he wouldn't give for a camera to capture this moment! A quick clearing of his throat saved Kakashi from self-destructing and brought the befuddled jounin back to the matter at hand.

"I'm sorry hokage-sama, I must have been hearing things. Where's the guy I'm evaluating, again?"

This time, Hiruzen couldn't hold back the slight chuckle.

"He's right infront of you Kakashi."

Still not understanding what kind of new code(Surely, it must be coded info!) the hokage was using, Kakashi craned his neck too look behind Naruto and again checked the space between them to make sure it was completely empty before he turned back to face the Sandaime with a raised eyebrow waiting for the matter to be cleared up. This time it was Naruto who did the clearing up.

"He means ME, dumbass!"

Kakashi leaned towards the hokage in a conspiratory manner and asked in complete seriousness,

"Sir, is this a joke?"

Sandaime was now over his amusement was getting irritated.

"No, Kakashi. Naruto is the person I hope to recruit into the ranks. He's already passed all the other tests and is now remaining with his combat evaluation, which I should remind you I called you here for."

Now was when Kakashi's brain gears kicked in. The Sandaime was readying their Jinchuuriki to be their perfect weapon!

"Hokage-sama, if we fight here the Kyuubi's chakra will alert the whole village..." He was cut off by Naruto who was apparently listening in on their conversation,

"Yeah, that would be a problem IF I was able to use its chakra, which I obviously can't. Good work solving the mystery, genius!" his tone was just dripping with sarcasm. The little smirk on his face certainly didn't help things either.

Kakashi got ticked off by that statement. 'Just who the hell does this kid think he is?' He was about to divulge a good ol' dose of discipline on the little smart-mouth who dared to back-talk him when the hokage intervened for everyone's sakes.

"Naruto, that's out of line. Kakashi stop wasting time. We don't have all day to do this so please just get it over with so that we can all go back to work." That was the end of the matter if Hiruzen had anything to say about it. He stepped in between the two combatants a little distance away and held up his hand in preparation to begin the fight.

Kakashi watched the little gaki from his lone eye and got ready to deal a good dose of pain to the little smart-ass punk. 'I'll teach him to mess with me!'

Naruto was having thoughts similar to Kakashi's as he got ready to clash with the legendary nin before him. 'He'll learn not to underestimate me!'

Hiruzen was tempted to dash to the market and buy some popcorn while gathering an audience for the fight he was about to initiate. He tempered his urges, however, as he ignored the building tension and sparks flying between the two talented nin before him. He dropped his hand in between the two saying, "Begin!" and jumping back just in time to avoid being caught in between the two battling forces.

Kakashi, on his part, was not expecting Naruto to be able to block his first strike... or his second... or his third. 'Grrrr!' It was infuriating how the gaki was able to counter him at every turn and then some! But he was an elite jounin for a reason.

With an EVIL laugh in his mind, he uncovered his sharingan and switched with a kage bunshin to get behind Naruto where he was perfectly positioned to use a new move he had been creating solely for the purpose of tormenting any poor gennin unfortunate enough to be placed in his squad after graduation. He called out his technique while waiting to hear the oh so beautiful screams of pain it would undoubtedly cause.

"Konoha Hiden no Taijutsu Ougi, Sennen Goroshi!" He proceeded to majestically raise his forefingers together infront of him to give birth to one GLORIOUS ass-poke. Too bad he didn't expect to pass right through the after-image of his intended target.

Before he could contemplate just how his prey got away, he heard an unmistakable yell right behind him.

"Sennen Goroshi!"

Never before had Kakashi pulled off a kawarimi so fast. He was just in time too as he saw the devastating effect of his new jutsu-turned-against-him on the unfortunate log he had replaced himself with. With a painful sounding crack, the log that was at the mercy of Naruto's fingers was split along its length. Kakashi unconsciously rubbed his own behind as he thought of how he had just narrowly escaped a painful and, not to mention, humiliating defeat(with a high risk of probable death). After seeing what it could do, he vowed on the spot never to use it on any potential students he might get. Woe unto Naruto's enemies for Kakashi came to a distrubing realization once he heard Naruto laugh maniacally in light of the new jutsu he had acquired, 'I've created a monster...'

Sandaime nearly bust a gut holding in his laughter at the spectacle before him when he heard Kakashi announcing his rather eerm... unique move. This was far better than anything he could have anticipated. When Naruto gave his counter to Kakashi's jutsu, he almost lost his lunch right then, using all of his will to hold back great guffaws and bellows of laughter. It just wouldn't do for the match officiator to lose focus now, would it? Fortunately for the old man, someone nearby was letting loose on the laughs plenty enough for both of them.

Chuunin Mitarashi Anko was taking a box of her favorite dish, dango, to have lunch with her new best friend who also happened to be a chuunin, Yuuhi Kurenai, when she got sidetracked. On the way, she had passed by the hokage and the elite jounin Hatake Kakashi who were striding purposefully towards a certain out-of-the-way training ground she sometimes used. Deciding that there was something HUGE going down that involved the two, she had discreetly followed them from her distance while she recalled Kakashi saying something in the seniors' lounge about a new recruit he was being called to test by order of the hokage. Maybe she'd get to see Kakashi wipe the floor with this new guy. She was always up for watching a good brawl.

Currently, Anko had never been more glad that she bumped into the two on her way to lunch. She was desperately trying to hold on to the tree branch she was perched on as laughter wracked her whole body from watching the throwdown between Kakashi and the Uzumaki kid. Her condition worsened when she saw Kakashi rubbing his ass to relieve himself of the phantom pain from the jutsu he had just avoided. THIS WAS GOLD! What she wouldn't give for Nai-chan to be watching this with her! She wiped the drool off her mouth when she heard Naruto's utterly diabloical laugh signifying his realization of the power behind the technique he had just acquired. That laugh sent shivers down her spine. She could only think, 'Kakashi, what have you done?'

Naruto, on one hand, was livid when he saw the destruction behind the move Kakashi just tried to use on him. 'The nerve! So this is how it is, huh?' But then it dawned on him that this awe-striking new jutsu was now his as well to use and abuse as well. This incredible power was his! Throwing his head back Naruto cackled out very uncharacteristically from what he was normally like. He sent out a quick Chakra Pulse to find Kakashi's position then he turned to face him with a huge grin on his face.

"Chakra Senbon!" As he called out his jutsu, he flung out his fingers to expel the needles of death into the bush Kakashi was hiding in. Once he had flushed him out, which was the true purpose of saying his technique out loud, he drew his sword blindingly fast and slipped into a stance facing Kakashi and called out his own devastating technique, "Noroi o-tataku no mai!(Dance of the Cursing Slaps)"

'Huh?' was the thought of every ninja who was watching Naruto, while he dashed straight at Kakashi. He swung his sword in a wide backhand arc which Kakashi dodged before using his momentum to step in close through Kakashi's open guard and land a loud resonating slap on his face with his free hand. Sandaime and Anko winced in sympathy(well, Sandaime winced, Anko just started laughing again) as Naruto continued to slap Kakashi without letting up(the first hit had disoriented him and left him unable to counter the rest.

Naruto wasn't really expecting the technique to work. He had come up with it on the spot as a variation of his only and untested sword technique, Uzumaki no Mai(Dance of the Maelstrom). Kakashi ended the onslought by knocking away the sword with his kunai while he used another kunai to slice through Naruto's arm when the boy tried to get in close again. Naruto didn't even try to dodge the strike as he grasped the arm with the weapon to be perfectly positioned to end the fight with a last minute tactic he knew would make sure Kakashi never underestimated him again.

Time seemed to freeze when he called out his ultimate creation, "Ketto Seigen Kohai no jutsu!(Bloodline Limit Devastation Technique)"

'A jutsu to destroy kekkei genkai?' Anko didn't even blink as she watched Naruto's move, intent on unravelling its secrets. Sandaime too was intrigued and watched the fight with keen eyes. Kakashi immediately realized the position Naruto had manouvered him into while he had been using his sharingan to counter his slaps. This time, he could not kawarimi since Naruto was disrupting his chakra flow with period injections of his own chakra into Kakashi's system.

"Crap!" was all he got out... right before Naruto swept a short leg up to crash into Kakashi's unmentionables.

The poor jounin cried mercy as he fell back from the strike as if in slow motion landing on the ground on his back where he lay still, grasping his crotch as rivulets of tears ran down both his eyes. In the calm before the storm the ninja present all had different thoughts,

'I must learn from him...'

'Naruto, just how strong have you become...'

'Naruto-one, Masked Bastard-zip.'

'MY UNBORN BABIES!'

Like someone just turned up the volume in the place, Kakashi's girly yells filled the area and echoed throughout the village. In the years to come, people would remember the battle that was fought in Training Ground 17 and the fear inspiring cries of tortured souls that were said to still haunt the area.

AN:I know, I know. I'm releasing all the chapters on the same date. It's sometimes good to get things fresh, hot out of the oven. Now, I'm not sure how many people will accuse me of copying from your fics but if I have, my sincerest apologies. It was completely unintentional and by the next chapter I'll give you credit for the idea, or I'll erase it completely from the fic. Until next time, readmeplease.


	4. Chapter 4

My apologies precious readers, I must embark on an epic soul searching hiatus to find the ultimate inspiration for a Naruto fanfiction with an actual plotline! That and animation classes have me sleeping three hours at a time to finish all my assignments by the deadlines. Do not weep, for I shall return, dear friends! In a month or so with a new story that MIGHT knock your socks off, and a hoard of new chapters for the other stories (hey, just 'cos I can't update, doesn't mean I can't keep adding little snippets to build chapters and eventually whole stories).

As promised, credit for kawarimi bunshin goes to knuckz for his amazing, yet seemingly discontinued, tale: Come Full Circle. Also I commend G1Park for bloodline ender no jutsu in: Idiotic Reasons (another great story) which is somewhat similar to my own bloodline limit devastation (but he came up with his first).

Kakashi: This is a formal apology to the High Priest of the Log, for the creation of my, now declared a kinjutsu, 'thousand years of death technique' which was used on the Log which answered my call for help and suffered the effects of the jutsu. *throws himself on the ground and grovels* "I'm sorry! Please don't banish me! I promise I'll be good from now on!

Naruto: *sniff* Wimp. Yah, yah. It's all Kakashi's fault for trying to use the damn technique on me in the first place, so if you want to blame anyone, blame him! Nevertheless, in the coming chapters of this fanfic I promise to plant at least a thousand more trees to make up for the loss of the Log that the masked bastard set up to take the place of his demise.


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